Garden Pests and Predators - Foxes

Foxes probably top the larger garden pests chart if you live in an urban or suburban area. They’re certainly one of the main pests that clients ask me about, whether they’re in a city garden, a suburban garden or a country garden.

I find it interesting that different gardeners will put different animals on their pest list. This is not only in relation to where they live, but also to their style of gardening. Or the style of garden they would like me to design for them. By the latter I mean that clients don’t generally want a wildlife garden that encourages foxes to visit.

The list of larger garden pests that I have been asked to find soltuions for is quite comprehensive. You may not consider all of the following to be a pest. Or you may feel that they may be a garden pest in some circumstances. Some you may actively encourage into your garden, your own cat for example. I merely repeat the list I’ve had over the years of giving garden advice (in alphabetical order) : –

badgers
bats
cats
deer
dogs
foxes
hedgehogs
magpies
moles
owls
rabbits
rats
squirrels
stoats
weasels

It’s a long list!

Garden Pests – Foxes

In this blog, we’ll consider Foxes (Vulpes vulpes). However, a lot of the tricks work with, or rather against, other predators. So much of what I suggest below is relevant to Grey squirrels (Sciurus carolinensis) Badgers (Meles meles) and brown rats (Rattus norvegicus), for example. Most of the suggestions will work in town gardens and those in garden on the fringes of suburbia, allotments and community gardens. It is worth remembering that all such advice is generic. If you have a particular problem, the best advice is given by an expert visiting your garden. This enables the whole picture to be seen and appropriate advice given for you and your gardening needs.

Foxes are more often seen in urban and suburban areas than rural these days, for various reasons, including a reliable food supply. This would probably not bother us if it were not for the great fun foxes then have digging up plants and puncturing footballs left out overnight. Not to mention the unexpected ‘present’ they might leave on your doorstep! Watching a pack of cubs playing on your lawn is delightful. And let’s remember that residents who encourage foxes into their gardens by feeding them do the rest of us a service.

Foxes – some tips for prevention

If you are troubled by foxes, what steps can you take? Simple solutions first: –

Food – make sure there is little to attract them in the first place

Having a BBQ? Clean up after so no food is left out.
Food waste – Keep a tight lid on the compost bin, food waste bin, rubbish bin.
Fertilisers. If you’re using a blood, fish and bone based fertiliser in the garden, use sparingly and be sure to dig it in well. It’s very tempting to foxes, badgers, rats, dogs and cats, as it is a food source to them.

Clear overgrown areas which could provide resting areas

This doesn’t mean clearing up your ‘stag beetle corner’. Foxes are more likely to take cover on a garage roof overgrown with ivy: it’s a good vantage point.
Block access to underneath sheds and decking, as these make excellent dens.

Entry routes

Check where and how the foxes are entering. Are they climbing over the fence or digging a hole underneath? Is there an obvious fox run through your garden?
Fences topped with slightly wobbly trellis help deter foxes, cats and burglars from climbing over.
Block holes with bricks or solid fencing as well as plants. A small hole for hedgehog access may allow a fox cub through but not a mature fox.

Foxes – some tips for getting rid of them

There are three most commonly used and effective methods

Sprays
Sonic deterrents
Larger predators

Sprays

There are sprays that can be used to dissuade pests from entering your garden. These are largely based on citrus fruits. Why? Well, you may have noticed that whilst your dog will eat most raw fruit and vegetables, they’re not generally keen on lemons. These sprays are ready made or you can also make your own citrus spray with essential oils. Grapefruit seems to work particularly well.

Hot pepper spray is particularly effective against most pests – even deer. Again this can be bought or home-made. However, be aware that it may ‘burn’ the leaf edges of delicate plants.

Spray along tops of fences, around the entry holes and potential den areas.

Sonic deterrents

These do work well in some situations. It is very much a specific control depending on your needs, garden and garden users. For example, your own cat or visiting hedgehogs may be affected.

Larger predators

Like many garden pests and predators, foxes are territorial. This can be another tool in dissuading them from entering your garden as if they think larger predator is in residence, they’ll look elsewhere first. So, apart from borrowing a lion or tiger from the zoo, what else is a larger predator?

Domestically speaking, dogs are the obvious contender. Encouraging both dogs and bitches to scent mark around the boundaries and generally have a presence in the garden does seem to work. ‘Borrowing’ a friend’s dog on a regular basis can also help; ‘regular’ being the key word. We have noticed that where our dog accompanies us to a client’s garden and is encouraged to do the ‘territorial’ stuff, plus the client takes action as above, the foxes will leave.

If you don’t have access to a dog, having many cats can sometimes work. This is not so much the size of as the number of other predators.

Garden Pests and Predators – Foxes and others

In some ways badgers are more of a pest than foxes. Earthworms are one of their favourite foods, and worms are among the top of a gardener’s necessary helpers list. Grey squirrels are also tricky to deal with. Cats and magpies can be helpful predators against squirrels. Although magpies may also be considered pests by some gardeners. Hmm, it’s less of a predator hierarchy than a web of choices…

If you would like some advice, perhaps a Garden Advice Visit on how to de-pest your garden in an easy, environmental way giving yourself more time just to sit and enjoy the sunshine, do get in touch.